Changes
by Dragons of the Moon
Summary: After narrowly escaping from the Bitter Pill, the Doctor and Rose meet up with someone they never expected to see again... and everything changes. ,,AU from DW2x09,TW1x13, 10JR,,
1. Deus ex Machina

**Changes**  
Deux ex Machina (23:00)  
by Apollymi and Katsuko (Dragons of the Moon)

**Statement made to save one's own ass:** _Doctor Who_, _Torchwood_, The Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, and all other recognizable characters are copyright to the BBC and are borrowed with great love. DotM owns only the idea, and we promise to return them in good shape.

* * *

Admittedly, she was still somewhat shaken from everything that had happened on that hell planet. It was such a close call - nearly losing the TARDIS, almost positive that she would never see the Doctor again - that for the first time in near about six months, Rose Tyler had to ask again: 

"Can we go pick up Jack now, Doctor?"

She noticed that the Doctor tensed at the console but he did not answer her, instead focusing on the TARDIS' screens (and damn it all that she still had no clue what those symbols meant). Rose glanced briefly at her mobile - it was still set on London time and proclaimed the hour to be 11:15 at night - to see how long it took him to reply. When the five minute mark passed in silence she spoke once more.

"It's been a while, yeah? The earth of 200,100 should be set to rights by now. Jack's probably started thinking that we forgot all about him and--"

"Rose."

It wasn't the fact that he'd interrupted that stopped her flow of words, but the way he'd said her name - quietly, with the slightest break before he'd finished speaking. It sent a chill down her spine; and when she looked at him again, she saw heart wrenching pain in his eyes.

"We can't. I'm sorry," the Doctor said, as if four little words were explanation enough.

Rose was many things, but stupid was not one of them. She had a sinking feeling _why_ they couldn't go back, couldn't bring Jack home, but she needed to hear it. If she didn't then she would always hold onto the hope that--

"Why?" she demanded, her own tone soft, coaxing. "Doctor, why can't we go back for him?"

_Don't you care about him? I thought you felt the same towards Jack as you do about me,_ she thought, nearly said, managed to bite back.

The Doctor looked away, expression closing off completely. The total lack of any emotion on his face almost made her take back her question. Before she could tell him to forget it, or possibly repeat the question again, or do anything other than take a breath, he finally spoke up.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. I shouldn't have kept the truth from you." He finally looked her way again; although his face and voice remained expressionless, his eyes were once again filled with pain. "After I sent you home from the Games Station, _everything_ accelerated. The Daleks... basically plowed through everything and everyone in their path. Jack had his comm link open, keeping me posted on how much longer until the Daleks reached Floor 500."

He stopped speaking again, and for a fraction of a second she could see sorrow etched on his usually boyish face. In that instant she could honestly believe with every fiber of her being that the Doctor was well over nine hundred years old.

"The Daleks chased him right to the control room doors," the Doctor continued, voice flat and devoid of emotion. "Jack kept shooting until the last round. They killed him, Rose. Exterminated him no more than a hundred meters from where I stood. The last words I heard him say were, _I kinda figured that_."

Silence now, save for the TARDIS' humming. Rose found herself torn between anger that he had kept this from her, had outright lied to her for do long... and sorrow for how long her had to have been mourning in silence. She took a deep breath to study herself before closing the gap between then and slapping the Doctor soundly.

He was obviously startled by the action if his gob smacked expression was any indication. "You just hit me," he said after a moment, his tone indignant.

"And I should give you another smack for not telling me sooner," Rose retorted before wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder. "For an intelligent bloke, you can be right stupid sometimes."

For a brief second he tensed, almost as if he expected her to hit him again, before relaxing and leaning into her. His arms wrapped themselves around her, one and her shoulders, and rested his head against hers. Rose could almost swear that she heard him let out a muffled sob, but she would never call him on it. After all, the Doctor have born the burden of the horrible truth alone for so long; she could look the other way for a few moments more.

And if her own tears fell, it was okay. Neither of them had to bear it alone.

* * *

Something was wrong, that much she knew. 

Her Doctor and her Rose were hurting; she could feel it through her connection with both, but she wasn't sure of the _why_. As unobtrusively as she could, she skimmed their thoughts to find the cause.

...oh.

Well. Bipedal lifeforms were certainly stupid at times.

It was forgivable in this case, though. Her Doctor and her Rose thought her Captain was dead. And by all rights he should be. Except that when she was linked with her Rose, she felt Rose's desire to keep her Doctor and her Captain safe. So she had found her Captain's spark and fanned it back into life... and, okay, _maybe_ she infused a bit of herself into it as well.

She wanted them safe, too, after all.

But her Rose did not remember and her Doctor did not know. So it was up to her to make the family whole again - her Doctor, her Rose, and her Captain.

Thus decided, the TARDIS locked onto her target and hurled herself through the vortex.

It was past time to bring Captain Jack Harkness home.

* * *

27 April 2007 

So, after much debating, the first DotM non-anime series kicks off! Hurrah! We'll be at work on the next section shortly, so stick around! One story down, 23 more to go.

In explanation of that, Katsuko and I made a joint claim at 24 Hour Themes to take the pairing of the Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler/Captain Jack Harkness. We have to write 24 stories, each following a certain theme (with two freebies) and each mentioning a certain time corresponding to that theme. No two themes may be combined; it's one theme per story.

If you enjoyed this story, please leave a comment and come back from the next ones. You can also check out our individual writings under the usernames Apollymi and Jounouchi Katsuko. Hope to see you soon!

Li (and Kat)


	2. Ad Vitam Aeternam

**Changes**  
Ad Vitam Aeternam (18:00)  
by Apollymi and Katsuko (Dragons of the Moon)

**Statement made to save one's own ass:** _Doctor Who_, _Torchwood_, The Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, and all other recognizable characters are copyright to the BBC and are borrowed with great love. DotM owns only the idea, and we promise to return them in good shape.

* * *

It was worrisome, the way the TARDIS wouldn't tell him where she was headed, but there was no way he'd let Rose know that. The way he saw it, the old girl knew what she was doing so that would have to suffice. Besides, as long as Rose didn't ask _where are we going?_ he wouldn't really have to admit that he had no idea.

So really, it was a good thing that the blonde had gone to her room to 'freshen up;' it would be at least an hour before she emerged again, likely to shower as well, maybe give him a bit of time alone. Hopefully by that point he might have half a clue where the TARDIS was swanning off to.

"What are you trying to tell me?" he asked, the only response the soft mental purr of his ship. "Why so secretive?"

The same response, meant to reassure that the TARDIS knew what she was doing, did little more than to further confuse the Doctor. For half a microsecond he was tempted to try and force a landing; that thought vanished with the realization that she _would_ throw sparks at him and probably set his tie on fire if he even attempted it. When the TARDIS got like this it was generally easiest - and safest - to let her do as she pleased.

"All right, old girl," her murmured, patting the console lightly. "Your choice for this trip." The TARDIS trilled softly in reply and the Doctor sank into the captain's chair. Propping his feet up, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

Had it really been just a few hours ago that they'd escaped from the Bitter Pill? Time did indeed flow differently in the vortex, neither forward nor back very quickly, but it felt as if days had gone by. What especially weighed down his mind were thoughts of the one he'd had no choice but to leave behind.

The Doctor had never loved easily, and rarely did he love deeply. There were only three who could claim to have held his hearts: Romanadvoratrelundar after her regeneration (and the name was such a mouthful that 'Romana' was preferable even if she'd personally picked 'Fred'), Rose Tyler... and Jack Harkness.

That had been a bit of a surprise, even to him. After the Time War he had made a vow to himself to never let anyone - be they a human friend from a previous regeneration, a new acquaintance, or a Companion - get close to him than arms' length. But Rose had managed to find the cracks in his defenses and slid into his hearts as if she had always been there, and Jack had torn them away completely with his more subtle advances... small things like helping with repairs to the TARDIS and watching out for Rose in potentially dangerous situations and mild flirtation whenever the Doctor gave him an opening.

And now Jack was gone, leaving a ragged bleeding hole where he had once been.

The man had somehow managed to ingrain his presence into every inch of the TARDIS, every moment of the Doctor's daily life, and he wondered how he had managed to keep his grief a secret from Rose for so long. That was part of why he had carefully packed away the clothing he'd worn in his previous regeneration; even the leather itself reminded him of the only male he had ever loved, and it served only to pain him further.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the TARDIS let out a trill and fell abruptly silent, although he could practically feel her buzzing joyfully in the back of his mind. It was also quite obvious, after he gathered himself once more, that they had arrived at whatever destination she had decided upon... and she still wasn't giving him any answers.

"Come on, love, give me at least a hint!" he grumbled, resisting the urge to kick the console when the TARDIS' only reply was to chirp in a manner that meant _I know something you don't know_.

Of course, that was about the moment Rose came running into the console room. (She would later inform the Doctor that the TARDIS had thrown her door open and clicked at her until she finally started his way.) The blonde slid to a stop, both hands on the rail, and took several deep breaths before attempting speech.

"We've stopped?" It came out as a question, and when the Doctor nodded she added, "Why have we stopped?"

The Doctor waved one hand to the main console and blurted out, "Ask her," before he could stop to collect his thoughts. He looked at the monitor which was finally displaying their location and frowned, muttering under his breath in Gallifreyan. When he looked back on the moment later he would once again be glad that the TARDIS refrained from translating his native tongue; his Companions _really_ didn't need to know some of what came out of his mouth at times.

"Where have we landed this time, then?" Rose asked with a little frown of her own.

"The solar system. Earth. Great Britain. Wales. Cardiff. The year 2008." And he was rather cross to be in Cardiff; he really wasn't ready to travel anywhere he - _they_ had gone with Jack just yet. At his Companion's stunned expression he couldn't help but add, "Local time: six-twelve in the evening. Chance of late showers."

Rose rolled her eyes and gave him a sad smile. "The TARDIS probably decided she needed to refuel what with the daring escape earlier and all," she offered, and the idea made sense. "Plus, she probably misses Jack, too."

The TARDIS trilled once as if in agreement, but the Doctor was almost positive that there was a smug note to the sound as well.

"It's possible," he conceded, standing up straight and brushing invisible lint from his sleeves. "At any rate, we're not going anywhere until the TARDIS is ready to leave, it's nearly supper time, and that little café down by the bay has fantastic chips. What do you say?"

Before Rose could even begin to reply, there was a faint sound by the door of the TARDIS. Granted, on rare occasion people did express some level of curiosity when they arrived somewhere, but the Doctor could quite honestly say that he'd never heard anyone messing with the lock itself before. His initial instinct was to step in front of Rose, which was closely followed by the instinct to ask the question that slipped out:

"Do you have your key on you?"

She once again rolled her eyes as she pulled said key out from beneath her shirt to show him. "Never take it off except to shower," she reminded him. "And you always have yours."

"And I somehow find it hard to believe that Mickey found a way back from the Other Earth just to pick my locks," the Doctor remarked dryly.

"Who else has a key?"

"Sarah Jane, but she would at least call first since I gave her the number. Susan _had_ a key, but she's a good two centuries ahead of where we are now and she's probably a bit cross with me anyway. Ace might, wherever it is that she swanned off to. And the two of us, at least that's all the living," he concluded.

"So," the blonde asked, "if it's not one of them and it's definitely not us, then who--"

Her words were abruptly cut off by the opening door and a startlingly familiar voice that caused both time travelers to whirl around in shock:

"What's a guy got to do to get someone to notice him around here?"


End file.
